Alabama Residents Furious Over Possible Rate Increases:

The Blaze ^ | 17 Dec 2011 | Becket Adams

[mandaladon]

“These people are going to end up rioting about this,” says Sheila Tyson, a community activist in Jefferson County, Ala. “If they let this stuff happen they are going to get the biggest riot the South has ever seen . . . I can see it coming.”

That’s a pretty serious prediction. What could possibly start a riot that big?

She’s talking about the likelihood of Jefferson County increasing its water and sewage bill rates.

Oh. Is it really all that bad?

“If the sewer bill gets higher, my light might get cut off and if I try to catch up the light, my water might get cut off. So we’re in between. We can’t make it like this,” says Tammy Lucas, a Birmingham resident who has been affected by a “financial and political scandal that has brought one of the most deprived communities in America’s south to the point of what some local people believe is collapse,” reports the BBC.

Lucas’ monthly water and sewage rate has managed to quadruple in the past 15 years. Currently, her bill is $150 a month, which she pays for by using her $600 social security check.

“We need to keep the water running because we’re women,” she says. “We need to take baths. I try to pay the sewer bill and the water bill together and then what little I got left I try to put on my lights. I got to have lights.”

One of her Birmingham neighbors, who wished to remain anonymous, has already decided between lights and water: His home now has a porta-potty next to it. Why?

[mandaladon]

The sewage system was supposed to cost $300 million. However, since the project started in 1996, the costs have risen to $3.1 billion after various problems and a series of bond and derivatives deals fell through in 2008..................Something went wrong here?

[Red_Devil 232]

I would be darned PO’ed if my water, sewer and trash bill was over a Hundred Bucks! Sixty is max even when having to water my garden!

[mandaladon]

“Somebody from Washington D.C. needs to come down here and take these sewer bills to where they are affordable for the people in these districts. Injustice – that’s all this is. They need to come down here and fix it,” Tyson said..................Perhaps she's hoping Obama would fix the problem

[SkyDancer]

Well I don’t know what service you use but when ours was drilled the water source was 260’ down. At the time the price was $35/foot; came out to almost $10K.

[Venturer]

Here our wells are 450 feet down into the first aquifer,and the cost is around $7,000 bucks.

[SkyDancer]

So where are you?

[Michael Barnes]

“If the sewer bill gets higher, my light might get cut off and if I try to catch up the light, my water might get cut off. So we’re in between. We can’t make it like this,”

I bet that cell phone is paid up in full however.

[Venturer]

The People’s Republic of Maryland.

[PAR35]

Would Obama policies have anything to do with this?

To be fair, no. This far predates the coronation of Obama.

[Repeal The 17th]

Attention!
Residents of Birmingham, Alabama:
This is what happens when you vote for democrats, socialists, and Marxists.
Sounds real good in the short term, but...
(you freeking dumb asses)

[political1]

I live there. At one time they were talking about taxing the people on septic tanks also to cover the cost of building the water treatment facilities. Also they were going to build it out near lake Purdy, which is where our water supply comes from. In order to put it out there they were going to build a tunnel under the Cahaba River. which is the stream that fills up the lake. The potential for contaminating the water supply was almost 100%. The same EPA that said we would have to update our sewage system was the one that said we couldn't put the treatment center next to our water supply. The EPA said that we couldn't build a tunnel under the river that fed our water supply also. The city of Birmingham didn't stop building the project they kept on building it while fighting the ruling in court. Thus spending Millions apon Millions of more dollars. It was finally mandated by the federal government that they stop the construction. At that point they had million doller digging equipment in a tunnel in the ground. The city left it down there while paying the rent money for the equipment. All this while the case was pending. The tunnel flooded and all that equipment was ruined, and the county had to pay for it. All this because the city of Birmingham council said the sewage treatment center could not be placed anywhere else in the city. There are closed Steel factories and property that would be perfect for the use. The property out by lake Purdy is high dollar land. The Birmingham Water Works Utility is a private company regulated and controlled by the City of Birmingham. The city gets money from the water works profits. If the city leases the sewage treatement land from the Birmingham Water Works rather then buying the property outright then there is a continual flow of money as long as the lease stands. When they stopped the construction they stopped that lease agreement. All their plans then went, so they say, “Down the drain.”

[PoloSec]

I would have to say this, after seeing the area and houses water is supplied to...at $150.00 a month they are getting ripped off big time. This is what you get when liberals rule.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

All part of Agenda 21: Make life so expensive that people can’t afford to live.

[arkady_renko]

Um, in my community combined sewer and water bill is below $40.00. Tack on another $15 if you want garbage pickup.

[Signalman]

Interesting, I live in a town 45 miles north of Los Angeles and I just received a notification today from my city water dept. that my water rates are going up,up, up. And they just increased them last year, too. WTF over.

[Right Wing Assault]

It’s the EPA’s fault.

[SunTzuWu]

Don’t know about well drilling prices there but in Washington state it’s running about $45 per foot to drill.

Washington has a lot of rock to drill through. Down South it's mostly sand and clay so it's a lot cheaper. BTW are you back from Australia or just visiting for the holidays? A good friend of mine has just moved from NC to Darwin because of all the work there. He's loving the people and the weather. Happy Hanukkah.

[stormer]

My well is 625 feet - at the time it cost me $27/ft.

[imemyself]

In Jefferson County if you drill a well they tax you on the well as if it had a faucet.

The streets are constantly being repaired from broken pipes.

The people of Jefferson County ,it’s not just the inner city but many bedroom communities, are paying $300.00 to $500.00 a month for water and sewer. Ten years ago they were paying $50.00.

In Alabama elections it’s a toss up. The inner city voters, the southern black belt and Huntsville, full of government employees take a toll.

[blam]

"Be careful. These are Republicans that were voted in. Alabama is in the top five RED states in the U.S. "

Some counties in Alabama are 98% Black.

One county has the distinction of casting the highest ever % for a presidential candidate...Algore got 88% of the vote in that county.